FIG. 1 depicts a conventional computer system 10 having a conventional LCD panel display 52. An inverter controller 150 is provided to drive one or more cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) 38a and/or 38b, and includes a transformer 152 and and inverter controller 154, as is well understood in the art. A light sensor 156 is provided to generate a signal of the ambient light around the panel 52. The computer system also includes a conventional system CPU 158. In the conventional system, the optical sensor and inverter controller are controlled by the system CPU, via signal and data lines 101, 102 and 103, 104, respectively. Typically, these signal lines represent data and/or clock signals, and are operable to control the respective devices. The light sensor is used to effectively set the panel brightness based on the ambient light around the panel. However, such a topology as disclosed in FIG. 1 requires system CPU bandwidth and separate wire traces from the system CPU to the controller 150. Thus, there exists a need to eliminate both system CPU requirements and additional wiring traces while still maintaining panel brightness control.